How do I sell a window cleaning business?

A window cleaning business is easy to describe and harder to hand over. The work is physical, much of it happens at height, and customers often know the owner or the lead cleaner by face. A buyer wants to see a business that runs on routes and schedules, not on one person’s ladder. Your preparation is mostly about making that visible on paper.

Show the routes and repeat accounts

Buyers look for work that comes back. Pull together a list of regular storefronts, office buildings and residential rounds, with how often each is cleaned and how long the customer has stayed. Map the routes so a buyer can see how tightly the jobs sit together. One-off jobs and repeat work should be separated clearly, because they tell different stories.

Explain the seasons

Most window cleaning has a busy stretch and a slow one. Show a full year of bookings so a buyer sees the pattern before they ask. If you fill the slow months with pressure washing, gutter work or commercial contracts, say so and show the records.

Document equipment, crew and safety

List ladders, water-fed poles, lifts, vehicles and anything leased. Keep service and inspection records. Buyers will ask about training, your incident history and your insurance claims record, so have them ready. Ask your lawyer which workplace obligations a buyer takes on with the crew.

Decide how to reach buyers

Competitors, larger cleaning firms and first-time owners all buy businesses like this. A broker can approach them quietly, and this page on who buys cleaning companies sets out the options. The wider steps are in the guide to selling a cleaning business.